Tensions escalated in Mumbai on Thursday after Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha (BJYM) workers vandalised a Congress office in Azad Maidan, alleging that the grand old party had insulted social reformer Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Around 14 BJYM workers were detained by the police after they stormed the Congress office, shouting slogans against the party and damaging furniture.
The protesters tore posters and threw ink at portraits of Congress leaders, according to police. As the situation became tense, the police had to wield batons to disperse the crowd.
The situation was later brought under control, said a police official, adding that the detained workers were taken to Azad Maidan police station, where clashes broke out between BJYM workers and Congress members.
Late in the evening, a group of BJYM activists gathered outside the police station, located opposite the Congress office, to stage another protest. The police subsequently dispersed the crowd.
Mandar Pawar, a Congress office-bearer, filed a complaint against BJYM functionary Tejinder Tiwana and 30 to 40 other members of the youth wing.
Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered against them under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including unlawful assembly, rioting, mischief, and house-trespass, along with Section 135 of the Bombay Police Act for violating rules and directions.
The incident followed allegations from Congress leaders accusing Union Home Minister Amit Shah of insulting Ambedkar in a speech made in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad condemned the vandalism, posting on X, “This is what the BJP and Sangh Parivar have always done when they have heard Babasaheb's name - attack and vandalism. Look at the level BJP gundas are stooping to just to save Amit Shah and divert attention from the atrocious statement he made against Mahamanav, Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.”
She further claimed, “Around 50 BJP party karyakartas (workers) came to our party office, threw chairs and tore posters, vandalised property. Our babbarsher (brave) karyakartas resisted their attacks. We shall be proceeding legally against this.”
Gaikwad demanded that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis take immediate action, urging the use of the most stringent legal sections against the culprits.
“Is this the kind of political decorum in a progressive state like Maharashtra? Shame!” she added.
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